Muslim youths urged to join

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 October 1998, 17:33 GMT]
A letter from the Sri Lankan Police strongly urging Muslim youth to join the Home Guards was read out at Mosques in Valaichenai and Ottamaavadi after the Jummah prayers this afternoon. According to the letter, any Muslim youth who had attended school upto grade five is eligible to become a Home Guard.
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Civilians drafted in error

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 October 1998, 19:44 GMT]
Innocent Sinhala civilians may also be among the hundreds of deserters who are being picked up and sent off to the war front in the Sri Lankan government's current drive to replenish the ranks of the Sri Lankan army (SLA) , said human rights workers today.
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New Zealand Tamils appeal

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 October 1998, 23:04 GMT]
New Zealand's Tamil community appealed Sunday to the Commonwealth Parliamentarians Conference over the alleged mass graves of civilians killed by Sri Lankan troops in Jaffna, said the organisers of the event in a press release issued yesterday.
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Navy sailors rape teenager

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 October 1998, 23:15 GMT]
Three Sri Lankan Navy (SLN) personnel abducted and raped 16 year old school girl from Arasady road in Vaddukoddai, 9 km. north.west of Jaffna centre, on Saturday October 17 around 9.30 p.m, said sources there.
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Poster blitz in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 October 1998, 11:58 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers are reported to have distributed leaflets and put up wall posters in several parts of the Jaffna peninsula, asking civilians to not to stay in close proximity to Sri Lankan Army camps and sentry points.
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Sinhala-Buddhist fundamentalism blamed for war

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 October 1998, 12:00 GMT]
(News Feature)Mr. Kumar Ponambalam, leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, while addressing the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London yesterday, said that the mindset of Sinhala-Buddhist fundamentalism was central to Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict. The audience, which included NGOs, academics and British government officials was also addressed by Mr. Visuvananthan Rudrakumaran, one of the Liberation Tigers' legal advisors, Mr. Barry Gardiner, a British MP and Dr. Nagalingam Ethirveerasingham, a Tamil academic.
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Eleven Tigers killed

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 October 1998, 15:18 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) said its troops had killed eleven Liberation Tigers, including three female fighters, in two incidents south of the Trincomalee district last evening and this morning.
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Five fishermen reported missing

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 October 1998, 18:52 GMT]
Five fishermen from Karanavai in Karaveddi in Jaffna have been reported missing since Wednesday October 7. The five men, according to sources, had gone from Karanavai on Tuesday October 6 to a relative's house in Maaniavalai in the Sempianpattu area; and on Wednesday Oct. 7 they had set out around 4 a.m. in the early hours of the morning to fish in the lagoon nearby. They have been missing since then.
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Ex-CVF shot dead

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 October 1998, 18:46 GMT]
An ex-militiaman of Civilian Volunteer Force (CVF) identified as Meerasahib was found shot dead this morning near the Paandirippu cemetery. The CVF was established by the Indian army in 1989 with Tamil and Muslim youth recruited and conscripted through the EPRLF.
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Four STF commandos killed in Omanthai

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 October 1998, 06:00 GMT]
Four commandos of the elite Special Task Force (STF) were killed and six wounded when the Liberation Tigers attacked the vehicle in which they were travelling last evening around 5.30 p.m. at Omanthai, north of Vavuniya said Police sources in the northern town.
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New STF camps

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 October 1998, 10:35 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) has recently put up three new camps on the Maha Oya road in the Ampara district, according to residents. The new camps were put up at Pullukkunavi, Keliriyamaddu, 18th mile post at Aranthalavai.
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Military activity intimidates farmers

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 October 1998, 22:22 GMT]
Five employees working in a farm in Thandikkulam, 2 km north of Vavuniya were arrested by the Sri Lankan Police on Monday following a claymore mine explosion near the farm on Saturday.
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Kilinochchi landmines wound civilians

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 October 1998, 22:03 GMT]
A youth identified as T.Roopan lost one of his legs yesterday when a land mine exploded in Kilinochchi. Sources said the youth had gone to see the area that the Tigers had recently captured from the Sri Lankan Army.
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Disappearances may be reprisals

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 October 1998, 21:05 GMT]
Twenty four Tamils are reported missing in the village of Koppaveli, 30 kilometers north west of Batticaloa from the early hours of the morning today said Divisional Secretary (DS) of Chenkalady.
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Civilians to be shipped to Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 October 1998, 20:58 GMT]
Travellers who were stranded in Jaffna following the cancellation of all civilians flights to Jaffna will be sent to Colombo by ship on the basis of priority according to a decision taken today at a crucial meeting convened by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence (MoD) to discuss the transport crisis in the north.
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Posters fray Jaffna nerves

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 October 1998, 19:09 GMT]
The Sri Lankan army (SLA) vacated one of its camps in the Thenmaradchi sector in Jaffna on Saturday said sources in the north. Troops were pulled out from the Mirusuvil north SLA camp. The army unit stationed here was transferred to the Elephant Pass base complex further south said sources in the area.
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Vavuniya politicians lose access privileges

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 October 1998, 11:45 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Police in Vavuniya have said that Tamil politicians who wish to leave the town will have to obtain prior permission from them, like any other civilian. The new practice came into effect from September 30, the Police said.
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Salvage efforts delayed

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 October 1998, 13:17 GMT]
Mannar Kachcheri officials said this afternoon that efforts to salvage the Lion air flight that fell into the sea are stymied because the Sri Lankan Navy (SLN) is refusing permission to fisherman's societies and others who have volunteered to help pull the aircraft out of the sea.
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Foreign Minister's unsettling breakfast

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 October 1998, 04:34 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar had an acrimonious question and answer session at the Asia Society in New York last week, according to informed sources. The Foreign Minister was in the US for the opening of the UN General Assembly, and spoke at a breakfast meeting at the Asia Society in one of a regular series of talks by Asian foreign ministers.
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Lion air flight located- official

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 October 1998, 16:12 GMT]
A senior official at the Mannar district secretariat (Kachcheri) confirmed this evening that the Lion air flight that went missing since Tuesday has been found in the sea three kilometers west of the Iranaithivu island, off the northern coast of Mannar and 25 kilometers south of Jaffna.
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